An emotional goal celebration has punctuated Jy Simpkin’s player-of-the-match performance in the AFL’s Indigenous All Stars game.
Simpkin was awarded the Polly Farmer Medal as the player of the match in the All Stars’ 43-point win over Fremantle at Perth Stadium.
The North Melbourne co-captain recorded 30 disposals, 10 clearances, six marks and laid three tackles, but it was his reaction to kicking his first goal of the year that caught the eye.
After slotting early in the third quarter, Simpkin gave two thumbs up into the sky before running off the field, comforted by teammate Bobby Hill, before tears started flowing on the bench.
Jy Simpkin was in tears as he ran off the field after kicking his goal for the Indigenous All Stars. (Getty Images: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos)
Asked after the match how special that moment was, Simpkin explained its significance through more tears.
“My pop passed away just over Christmas,” he told Fox Sports.
“One of the last things he said was ‘when you kick your first goal, make sure you give me a thumbs-up’.
“So it was a pretty special moment.”
The moment in front of 37,865 fans — smashing the record from 2003 for an All Stars match by 20,000 — was a far cry from Simpkin’s last preseason outing, which ended in agony last year when he was knocked out by a high shot from Jimmy Webster.
“It was so fun,” Simpkin said.
“I can’t remember enjoying football that much.
“We spent the last couple days together. The connection we’ve built in such a short period of time — it was super exciting, super fun.
“Even sitting on the bench, just watching the boys run, carry, move the footy was awesome.”
Simpkin and the Indigenous All Stars were led by former St Kilda and Brisbane player Xavier Clarke, who is also an assistant coach with Simpkin’s Kangaroos.
Clarke, who played for the Indigenous All Stars in the 2007 game in front of 13,000 fans in Darwin, urged the AFL to keep the format alive and keep using world-class stadiums no matter the host city.
The game in Perth beat the previous record for an Indigenous All Stars crowd by 20,000. (Getty Images: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos)
“Everyone will want a piece of it,” Clarke said of the game that had not been played since 2015.
“If it’s here in Perth, well great. But if it’s at Melbourne, put it on the ‘G.
“I think just put it on a big, first-class stadium, and the people will come.”
The last time the Indigenous All Stars match was held, a sell-out crowd of 10,000 was present at Perth’s Leederville Oval as the Eagles secured an eight-point win.
The only previous time the match was hosted at a major stadium — at the MCG in 1985 — less than 6,000 fans turned up for the match.
Coincidentally, that was a year after Barry Cable stopped coaching North Melbourne, marking the last time an Indigenous man was head coach of a senior VFL team.
There have been none in the AFL era, but All Stars and Carlton defender Zac Williams backed Clarke to snap that long drought.
“The way he’s conducted himself as the head coach over the last few days, especially with the boys just being thrown together in a team, I think he’s managed expectations within the group,” Williams told AFL.com.au.
“He’s definitely got a future as a head coach.”
ABC/AAP
